(The meme is not a hint about the artist, it's just an unrelated lol)
Hey hey people people! Hope your weeks are off to a good start. Here on the east coast, we've been completely and utterly covered in snow. I may never see the sun ever again, but who needs sunlight when you have...
Stevie Wonder!
THE CLASSICS
In my last update, I'd made it to Music Of My Mind, the first in Stevie's legendary run of classic albums. I've now made my way through all of those albums, plus one album that followed (Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants). Here are some quick thoughts on each:
TALKING BOOK: Way more chill than I expected, especially after MOMM. Even the biggest hit, "Superstition," is more chill than something like "I Wish" or "For Once In My Life." Not a bad thing though - the hooks on this thing can be deceptive. "Maybe Your Baby" is a slow-moving yet unstoppable boulder of groove. "Big Brother" came off as Stevie's take on a Bob Dylan-esque folk song. (Sick pitch-bending harmonica too.) And I've had the triplets on "You Got It Bad Girl" stuck in my head this whole week. I'm aware these songs were recorded around the same time as MOMM's songs, so they strike me as an interesting counterpart.
INNERVISIONS: Ohhhhhh this was good. Can we talk about "Golden Lady"? Can we pleeeeeeease? This is already one of my top 10 Stevie songs ever, if only for the multiple ascending key changes at the end. Makes me wonder - did Beyonce get the idea for the key changes on "Love On Top" from Stevie? It'd certainly check out. Other immediate highlights are of course "Higher Ground," "Living For The City," and "All in Love is Fair.". Overall, this is definitely on the same level as MOMM.
FULFILLINGNESS' FIRST FINALE: Also quite good! I was at first expecting a comedown like Talking Book (at least after hearing the opener "Smile Please"), but this keeps the overall energy from Innervisions. This was the first album to come out after Stevie's near-fatal car crash in 1973, and there are a few songs that have a wearier, more haunting tone. Specifically "They Won't Go When I Go" - my GOD. Fascinating song. Also really liked "You Haven't Done Nothin'", even if it's very similar to "Superstition." Same key, some motifs that sound similar. Reminds me of how Spoon release "The Beast and Dragon, Adored" and then a really similar song with "Do I Have To Talk You Into It." Spoon tangent over, this album was great too.
SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE: Absolute classic. I so get the hype now. You'll see more when I release the reaction (more on that below), but I was impressed by the pacing and the consistent quality throughout. It did not feel like a 1hr 45min album (or a little less if you omit the extra EP tracks, which btw I didn't even know. this double album originally came with a bonus 4-track EP. Bc it clearly wasn't enough music!) I already loved "I Wish" and "Sir Duke" beforehand, but I also dug "Contusion", "Knocks Me Off My Feet", "Summer Soft" (ascending key changes again!!), "Ordinary Pain," "Black Man", "As" and "Another Star." Simply incredible stuff.
SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS: This one was fine! Soundtrack albums are a great way to release music after a monumental success without having loads of expectations on you. If it's good, yay more good music! If it's not good, eh who cares? Most of the songs are instrumentals, but I especially enjoyed the songs that had Stevie or at least someone singing. Perhaps seeing the documentary it soundtracks will change my feelings on it, but for now it's just fine.
REACTION
I filmed my first listen to SITKOL! It was a very good time. I'm currently editing it, and I'll release it when the full DDD is out on YT. Here's a fun clip from it:
SONGS TO CHECK OUT
I know I rattled off a bunch of songs earlier, but as an exercise in restraint, I'll give you one from each album to listen to:
And that's it for now! I don't have many albums left to check out, I think about seven? So I should be able to complete his discography by this time next week. After that, it'll be time to connect the dots between albums and write the script.
I won't have a new video out this week, but later this week, I'll share plans for future videos and get your takes on what videos you'd want to see next. See you then!